UPDATE 2-National Semiconductor profit falls
(Adds bookings, analyst comment, updates stock price)
NEW YORK, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Analog chip maker National Semiconductor Corp (NSM.N) posted a lower quarterly profit on Friday and issued a revenue forecast that was slightly weaker than expected.
The company said bookings during the fiscal first quarter fell about 7 percent from the prior quarter, primarily due to fewer bookings by its distributors, which account more than half of its sales.
The company, whose chips are used in everything from cars to cell phones, said its quarterly profit fell to $80 million, or 33 cents per share, from $86 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Sales for its fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 24 fell 1 percent to $465.6 million from $471.5 million.
Wall Street analysts had been expecting a profit of 34 cents a share on revenue of $468.8 million, according to a poll by Reuters Estimates.
The company said sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2009 should range from $470 million to $480 million, versus analysts' consensus estimate of $486 million.
National said its operating expenses are expected to increase during the current quarter to a range of $178 million to $183 million.
It said the increase is primarily due to seasonally higher stock compensation expense and annual employee wage increases that went into effect around the beginning of September.
Gross profit margins are expected to improve as the company sells more expensive, and more higher end products like advanced 3G phones such as the iPhone and BlackBerry.
"Despite little top-line growth, we expect gross margin to improve the next couple quarters on higher average selling prices (new product mix) and lower material costs," said John Dryden, analyst at Charter Equity Research, in a client note.
"We expect low-single digit revenue growth in fiscal year 2009, but sharply higher profitability on higher average selling prices, reduced unit costs, flat operating expenses, and a lower share count," Dryden added.
The company said it sees future opportunities in helping to to provide solutions to support the global energy crisis.
"With our leadership position in power management technology, this is our focus for growth," National Chief Executive Brian Halla said in a statement.
National shares rose 61 cents to $18.86 on the New York Stock Exchange early Friday afternoon. (Reporting by Yinka Adegoke, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Derek Caney, Richard Chang)
